Around 300 youngsters from across Leeds explored their wild sides with all sorts of exciting activities, from free-running to making hot-air balloons and building go-karts.

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Five fun-packed sessions were held in the city centre as part of the annual celebration of children's right to play organised by Play England, which promotes free play opportunities for all young people.

The theme this year – Give us a go! – aimed to put adventurous play like tree-climbing back on the agenda and overturn the cotton-wool culture that has developed because of over-zealous health and safety enforcement.

Claudia Fulchini, play development worker with Leeds Play Network – the charity which organised the local events – said: "I think the go-karts were the highlight.

"The free-runing was very popular and it was a good chance for the public to see it happening and how children can be involved."

The Playday organiser added: "A lot of them enjoyed throwing paint around City Square!"

She said: "In Park Square they were using saws, and hammers – anything that's perceived as quite risky to parents and the public but it has been received quite well."

The YEP has been campaigning for better play opportunities for the city's children – for more play areas to be provided and for improvements to existing playgrounds.

In Leeds there are 147 council-run playgrounds for around 143,044 children, compared to 311 in Kirklees' 82,700 youngsters and 129 for 65,438 children in Wakefield.

So the idea of turning five key city-centre locations over to the youngsters for the day went down very well.

Owen Driffield, of East End Park, was thrilled about being allowed to saw a wooden pallet in half to make a go-kart.

The eight-year-old said: "I thought it would be ready-made for you but it's much better like this."

Sophie Cameron, nine, tried den building after a kite-flying session in Millennium Square.

She said: "It was really good, except there wasn't much wind.

"We had lots of chalks and we could draw on the floor – that was the best thing so far."

Around 100 youngsters from city-wide play schemes were invited to the event and around 200 young passers-by joined in.

They could choose from making go-karts and dens in Park Square; story-telling and fancy dress with costumes from West Yorkshire Playhouse in Briggate; den building in City Square; kite making and mini hot-air balloons in Millennium Square and free running in Victoria Gardens with members of parkour groups from across Leeds.

They showcased their athletic skills, which they use to traverse obstacles in a series of leaps and moves and taught their fascinated, even-younger audience some of the basics.

Scott McQuade, from West Yorkshire Parkour, said: "We don't end up with injuries - we know our limits and we have to get very strong.